Team togetherness highlighted by Bobby Olejnik's support for Christy Pym

13 October 2016

Simon Larkins

Exeter City manager delighted by reaction of his Austrian-born shot stopper

Bobby Olejnik’s 100 per cent support to Christy Pym after his selection for the No. 1 spot against Grimsby Town highlights the togetherness in the Exeter City dressing room, says Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale.

Olejnik, 29, played all but one of the Grecians 54 games last season and started 13 of the 14 matches this season before finding himself on the bench for last Saturday’s match.

The Austrian-born shot stopper was devastated to lose his place in the team, but Tis praised the keeper’s response to the situation.

“Let’s not hide the fact that he is absolutely gutted that he was not selected,” said Tis. “He wants to play football and he has done nothing wrong. He has made no obvious mistakes or let anybody down. I just decided to select Christy.

“I actually said to the team last week ‘I don’t like the word dropped’ because actually I would like to select more than 11 players every week.

“I have got 20 players I’d like to select, but I have to select 11 and sometimes a player is not selected. That doesn’t mean they have been dropped. Dropped is a sort of old-fashioned term and implies that you are punishing someone for poor play. Well, Bobby has not been poor. He is not being punished. I have just selected somebody else.

“Bobby has taken it really professionally. I actually discussed it with the team before the game on Saturday. It is symptomatic of such a good team group that Bobby was openly and vocally 100 per cent behind Christy.

“You could not have asked for a better response and, I suppose, the proof is in the pudding because on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday this week Bobby has been brilliant in training. It is exactly what you want as a manager.”

Speaking about Christy’s elevation to the starting XI last Saturday, Tis added: “I have never seen Christy play so well in training; even when he played 25 games a couple of years ago and got into the England under-20s side.”

“He has trained as well if not better than I have ever seen him train before and he just forced the issue. I fancied a bit of a change in the team and I wasn’t quite sure where it would be, but he kind of forced it his way. It is a good sign for anybody in the squad because it shows that you can force your way into the side through application and performance in training.”